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‘Cinder Block Inn’ near DeKalb’s Stonecrest Mall to be demolished

‘Cinder Block Inn’ near DeKalb’s Stonecrest Mall to be demolished

The cinderblock shell of a hotel that was supposed to be finished a decade ago sits a stone’s throw from Stonecrest Mall as a testament to the increasing vacancy of stores around the mall and the challenges facing suburban shopping centers on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com

An ugly, half-built hotel that symbolized lackluster business growth near Stonecrest Mall is finally coming down.

Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary swung a sledgehammer into the building Wednesday to begin the demolition of the hotel, which has been abandoned since 2008.

The two-story structure, nicknamed the Cinder Block Inn, was never completed by developers, leaving behind a grey skeleton of a building surrounded by wires and weeds.

Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary wields a sledgehammer to begin the demolition of a long-abandoned, half-built hotel near Stonecrest Mall on Wednesday, Oct., 11, 2017. Photo credit: City of Stonecrest

Community members often complained about the hotel in southeast DeKalb County for years, and Lary said last year its removal would be one of his goals if Stonecrest became a city.

Voters approved creating the city of Stonecrest in November and elected Lary as its first mayor in March.

The property’s owners are paying for the demolition after the city warned them about code enforcement violations, said city spokesman Adrion Bell. He said Global Management & Investment Group of Stockbridge, the management company that owns the hotel, then agreed to tear down the structure within a 90-day deadline set by the city.

Developers are working on a future hotel project on the site, Bell said. Details of the project haven’t been released.